Nike Just Upped The Ante On Under Armour And Adidas, Plus Nestle Looking To Sell Their Candy Business

Here’s your hand-crafted Brew for June 16th. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “No soup for you!” –– Soup Nazi. Soupman, the New York soup shop Seinfeld brought into our hearts and home, is now seeking bankruptcy court protection.

Market Snapshot

World War Foo(d)

Kroger’s feeling more neglected these days than Ethyl’s powdered goat milk in aisle five. Shares dropped 18%Thursday to their lowest point in 15 years after the largest U.S. supermarket chain said heightened competition (we’ll get to this later) would eat away at earnings.

Shares of other grocers tumbled on the news as well.

Example: Whole Foods has been rotting from the inside out. Two years of declining sales have cut shares in half. And those 1,200 new stores they were about to open? Forget about it.

Now tack on a European invasion—Kroger and friends are in for a real treat.

The company has been running price-comparison tests in 1,200 stores across the U.S. to guarantee that it has the lowest prices in 80% of head-to-head offerings.

*Amazon slowly shakes its head from left to right*

Bezos’ baby has been running price algorithms to determine the absolute lowest price on any given product across the country and undercutting them.

The bottom line? Kroger and supermarket chains are paying—we’re eating.

Lace ‘Em Up

Yesterday, Nike upped the ante on Under Armour and Adidas by launching its Direct Consumer Offense. It sounds alarming, but we assure you, it’s a good thing.

The $88 billion athletic brand is looking to boost digital sales by streamlining mass product customization and speeding up lead time to delivery. And it’s all to meet the fast-changing insatiable tastes of Nike’s favorite person—you.

In doing so, it will remain laser-focused on the 12 cities that Nike believes will drive 80% of growth until 2020.

Here’s the catch: it’ll be dropping 1,400 of its 70,000 employees along the way.

Now Playing: Bleeding Love

While you were busy head-bobbing to Bieber, Spotify announced a 71% boost in paid subscribers (up to 48 million) in 2016. Sounds impressive, right?

Not quite: Spotify still posted a net loss of $601 million—double last year’s pain—despite 90% of revenue coming from premium members.

In what can only be described as a half-assed Netflix model, whereby all content is purchased and none is created, Spotify remains at the mercy of labels pulling Mr. Wonderful-style royalties…a number totaling $2 billion over the next two years.

Bye Bye, Butterfinger

Americans are increasingly snubbing sugar, and Nestle (+0.43%) is taking note. As the Swiss company looks to shift to a healthier portfolio, it may shed its sweeter U.S. segments to cut costs amidst sluggish global sales.

In the U.S. confectionery market, Nestle only holds an 8.4% market share—as in—it’s probably time to bid adieu to Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and other childhood favorites.

Be a five-tool player. Paying off different forms of credit (auto loans, mortgages, etc.) is a telltale sign that you’ve got what it takes.

Interview Question of the Day

Edward spent $21 on drinks for a party. If the bottle of vodka he purchased was twice the price of the case of beer, and the lemonade was half the price of the beer, how much did Edward spend on the beer?